Capitalism

Capitalism   

Capitalism has won the economic debate in the world today,  no doubt about that, but it has not won the moral debate by any means. Critics no longer deny that capitalism is the most efficient creator of wealth in world history, certainly as opposed to socialism and its look alikes of any sort. That argument has finally been settled with the long awaited fall of the USSR. 

What Leftist now oppose are alleged tangential side-effects of capitalism, such as inequality of outcomes, (primary from the Left,) and a lack of certain moral scruples (primarily from the Right.) 

These new charges are harder to defend against, for among other reasons they are more complex and less easily definable. Nevertheless, these new critics question both the "fairness" and "goodness" of capitalism rather than its efficiency. 

More troubling is that these attacks come from both Left and Right, with the Left focusing on inequality, and the Right pointing to immorality. 

The Left harps on "fat cats" while the Right points to the undermining of moral values, ala judge Bork's book "Slouching Towards Gomorrah." Rising prosperity they say, has been followed by cultural and moral decline. The idea is that capitalism undermines our ties to family, church, community and even God. Capitalism can't win such a debate unless it can effectively deal with these new complaints. 

It is not really true that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer as Leftists maintain. What has happened is that capitalism has made it possible for the both the poor and rich to get richer, but not, however, at the same pace. 

A hundred years ago a poor man would have to walk while the rich man could ride in a carriage.Today the rich man rides in a luxury car while the poor man rides in an economy car. Still a difference to be sure, but not as great a difference as a hundred years ago. Complicating all this, America has produced the first instance in  history of a mass affluent class, where the upper class, formerly quite small, has now become much larger than at any time in history. So the argument about inequality is not nearly as clear as the Left thinks. 

Now, in regard to moral values, it is true they have declined, but is it the fault of capitalism? The moral family values of the 30s and 40s drifted into the immorality of the 60s and beyond, primarily because of the success of capitalism in providing unheard of prosperity across the board. The very prosperity that The Greatest Generation used to spoil their kids, resulted in that generation not being able to replicate itself. 

It is a historical truism that prosperity tends to lead to a decline in moral values. Love of Money is the root of all evil according to that greatest definer of moral values. The Moral Values that in America's case were born out of the sacrifice of war, and the scarcity of the 1930s depression, turned into a post WW II affluence that produced the valueless 60s. This affluence which was the fruit of capitalism has turned into a challenge in how to handle it in such a way that it does not continue to produce a decline in moral values. 

This new crisis of Capitalism is also being played out on a larger historical tapestry. The 70 year battle with the USSR has no more than concluded, than it has been replaced with this new world war with Islam. It may turn out that our battle with both Socialism and National Socialism was no more than an interlude in our 1500 year battle with Islam. 

For all their efforts neither the Nazis nor the Communists were able to produce the level of fanaticism we see in today's fundamentalist Islam. Only Japan in WW II was able to produce suicide bombers, and they were all military men, while Islam seems to be able to convince large masses of the people to become such true believers that they will, (including women and children) blow themselves up in suicide attacks. 

What Islam is questioning is the essentially American-Western idea of the "self directed life," which includes lots of democracy. Islam takes another view, which is the idea that our lives are best directed by others. 

This American/Western idea of individualism is very threatening to the Islamic world because it says to the mothers and sons and daughters of Muslim families that they don't have to listen to the head of household, but can do as they wish, and further that no one has to listen to the Mullahs, the Sharia holy law, and perhaps not even to Allah (God).  

Fact is, there is not much that separates true believers in any religion from each other, and a realignment of humanity into two waring camps, with Conservative Believers on one side and Liberal un-Believers on the other is a distinct possibility. 

Capitalism must find a moral base or it will be replaced sooner or later. This is why there can be no such thing as a Fiscal Conservative separate from a Social Conservative. They are either one united entity or they are nothing. 

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